Reports on Religious Freedom:
Bahrain

(1999)

The Constitution states that Islam is the official
religion; however, while the Constitution also provides for freedom of
religion, the Government does not tolerate political dissent from religious
groups or leaders, and subjects both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims to
governmental control and monitoring. Most world religions are represented
in the country, and their followers generally practice their faith
privately without interference from the Government.

The population is overwhelmingly Muslim. Citizens belong
to the Shi'a and Sunni branches of Islam, with Shi'a constituting over
two-thirds of the indigenous population. However, Sunnis predominate
because the ruling family is Sunni and is supported by the armed forces,
the security service, and powerful Sunni and Shi'a merchant families.
Foreigners constitute 35 to 40 percent of the total population. Roughly
half of resident foreigners are non-Muslim. Christians and other
non-Muslims including Jews, Hindus, and Baha'is are free to practice their
religion, maintain their own places of worship, and display the symbols of
their religion.

Bibles and other Christian publications are displayed
and sold openly in local bookstores that also sell Islamic and other
religious literature. Some small groups worship in their homes. Notable
dignitaries from virtually every religion and denomination visit the
country and frequently meet with the Government and civic leaders.
Religious tracts of all branches of Islam, cassettes of sermons delivered
by Muslim preachers from other countries, and publications of other
religions are readily available.

However, proselytizing by non-Muslims is discouraged,
anti-Islamic writings are prohibited, and conversions from Islam to other
religions, while not illegal, are not tolerated well by society.

Both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims are subject to governmental
control and monitoring. During 1998 the Government closed a few mosques and
Ma'tams (Shi'a community centers) to prevent religious leaders from
delivering political speeches during their Friday prayers and sermons.

The High Council for Islamic Affairs is charged with the
review and approval of all clerical appointments within both the Sunni and
Shi'a communities, and maintains program oversight for all citizens
studying religion abroad. Public religious events, most notably the large
annual commemorative marches by Shi'a, are permitted but are watched
closely by the police. There are no restrictions on the number of citizens
permitted to make pilgrimages to Shi'a shrines and holy sites in Iran,
Iraq, and Syria. However, stateless residents who do not possess Bahraini
passports often have difficulties arranging travel to religious sites
abroad. The Government monitors travel to Iran and scrutinizes carefully
those who choose to pursue religious study there.

There was no change in the status of respect for
religious freedom during the period covered by this report.

The political dynamic of Sunni predominance has led to
incidents of unrest between the Shi'a community and the Government,
including during the period covered by this report. For example, in October
1998 police detained up to 20 young men following demonstrations against
the Government over the death of a Shi'a man who died from injuries he
allegedly received when police detained and tortured him in 1994. Also
during the period covered by this report, the Government held in detention
hundreds of Shi'a for security-related crimes such as treason. In June
1999, the Government gradually began freeing incarcerated individuals as
part of an Amiri decree calling for the release or pardon of over 350 Shi'a
political prisoners, detainees, and exiles, including politically active
Shi'a cleric Abdul Amir Al-Jamri. By the end of the period covered by this
report, as many as 700 persons still remained in detention. There were no
reports of religious detainees or prisoners during the period covered by
this report whose imprisonment could be attributed to the practice of their
religion.

There were no reports of the forced religious conversion
of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the
United States, or of the Government's refusal to allow such citizens to be
returned to the United States.

Section II. Societal Attitudes

Although there are notable exceptions, the Sunni Muslim
minority enjoys a favored status. Sunnis receive preference for employment
in sensitive government positions and in the managerial ranks of the civil
service. Shi'a citizens are not allowed to hold significant posts in the
defense and internal security forces. However, the Amir recently opened up
employment to Shi'a in the Bahrain Defense Force and the Ministry of the
Interior, two bodies in which Shi'a had been denied employment during the
past four years. In the private sector, Shi'a tend to be employed in lower
paid, less skilled jobs.

Educational, social, and municipal services in most
Shi'a neighborhoods, particularly in rural villages, are inferior to those
found in Sunni urban communities. In an effort to remedy social
discrimination, the Government has built numerous subsidized housing
complexes, which are open to all citizens on the basis of financial need.
In order to ease both the housing shortage and strains on the national
budget, in 1997 the Government revised its policy in order to permit
lending institutions to finance mortgages on apartment units.

The Government has declared the Shi'a religious
celebration of Ashura to be a national holiday. In a gesture of
conciliation toward the Shi'a community, the Amir donated rice and lamb to
some 500 Shi'a community centers for the 1999 Ashura.

Converts from Islam to other religions are not well
tolerated by society (see Section I).

Section III. U.S. Government Policy

An official written dialog takes place between U.S.
Embassy officials and government contacts on matters of religion. One such
example is the memorandum received by the Embassy each year from the
Government in response to the Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices for Bahrain.